The Unmourned
by SinnerJay
Summary: An epic I have been working on for a while, spanning across 400 years of Elder Scrolls lore, starting at the end of Elder Scrolls 3 Morrowind. New and original characters and story. Enjoy and reviews are appreciated.
1. Prelude

The Unmourned

Prelude

The steaming rocks radiated an oppressive heat down on the two combatants. Lava below made the air thick and difficult breath. The two combatants attempted a quick duel, but neither were so easily taken. Two combatants, two immortals stood on the narrow stone bridge that lead to the Stone of the Red Tower.

"My position in this world will not be so easily shifted Lord Nerevar," Dagoth Ur spoke motionlessly through his golden mask. His right arm was bleeding, he had been struck with a spell that only glanced at him. His blood dripped on to his hand, and stained his elvish dagger.

"Neither will mine, old friend," the Nerevarine retorted. He spoke with the familiarity that Ur had granted him. The Nerevarine began to step backwards to his goal, to the Heart of Lorkhan. Wraithguard, Sunder, and Keening were at the ready. He was ready to finish this battle.

Dagoth Ur, in a chance of desperation, ignited his uninjured hand aflame and cast a burning ball toward the Nerevarine. The Nerevarine watched as the spell hurled toward the wall above him, and shielded himself from the flaming aftermath. Ur made his move, he rushed the Nerevarine and ran him through with his bloody blade, inadvertently striking the heart as well.

The Nerevarine gasped blood and held back agony. His life was ending, he knew that was coming, that Azura was waiting for him in Moonshadow. Ur had removed his blade, and retreated a few steps back, awaiting his opponent's next blow. The Nerevarine was on his knees. What was he to do now?

"You see now," Dagoth Ur's deep voice rumbled the chamber, even the magma below jolted at his power. "I am the one who win this confrontation, I am the one who right the wrongs of the Tribunal, and I am the one who will rid Morrowind of the empire! Now I ask you again, hand over Kagrenac's Tools." Dagoth Ur extended his hand to the Nerevarine, a welcoming gesture that would lead to a certain end.

The Nerevarine breathed heavily, his vision grew hazy and his thoughts seemed to last lifetimes. He reached to his belt and presented Keening to Dagoth. Dagoth leaned forward to retrieve the blade, but he was deceived. In a swift motion, the Nerevarine stabbed the blade in Dagoth's hand and into the stone floor, immobilizing him. Following this movement, the Nerevarine spun around and smashed the heart with Sunder, rendering it mortal. In a final act of agility, he spun once again, crashing Sunder in Ur's skull and retrieved Keening, using his momentum to bleed the heart.

The Heart Chamber rumbled, a cave in. Steaming pieces of the mountain began to fall around the two combatants, the two mortals. A large boulder ejected itself from the ceiling and crumbled the stone bridge, sending the combatants to their fate below. Dagoth Ur screamed as he fell, he cursed the gods and Lord Nerevar. The Nerevarine listened as Azura comforted him in his final moments, "You no longer bear the burden of prophecy, and you have fulfilled your destiny. You are free. Death and corruption are not the only products of the heart, life has been gifted this day, victory this night, for now I await you, Nerevarine, in the twilight."


	2. Dunmer in the Dark

The Unmourned

Chapter 1 – A Dunmer in the Dark

A fire crackled in a stone enclosure against a wall. A young Imperial lad sat in a chair and poked at the flames, he was lost in his own mind. A small wooden table with some provisions to his right, and door that leads to a hallway. To his left the wall is bare, save a Tribunal banner. At his back is a bed, where a nameless Dunmer lay unconscious.

_He ran through the dark, chased by the unknown. He screamed, but only he answered. He ran, but he was followed by him. Him, who stared through a golden mask._

The dunmer awoke with a start, gasping for his breath. He could not sit up straight, his body was sore and his head was pounding. The Imperial rushed to bed side, one hand on the hilt of his sheathed blade. From the dunmer's perspective the imperial was nearly six foot tall, shaven, and shoulder length dirty brown hair.

"Who are you?" The dunmer croaked. His voice was harsh and weary. He sounded as if his soul was a thousand years old.

The imperial lifted his hand off his hilt and responded, "Cocius Leonia. Do you know where you are?" His voice was soft and unassuming.

"I'm…..I…" His head shifted from side to side.

"Cocius!" A voice barked from beyond the door.

Sighing Cocius made his way to the door, "I'll be right back."

Cocius opened the door and stepped into the hallway. There he came face to face with his captain, Miles Entius. Entius was an aging, yet hardened Imperial solider. He was balding and bearded, sporting heavy metal armor.

"Has he awoken? Has he started talking yet? What has he said?" Entius fired off these questions rapidly, though he expected no real answers.

"Only just sir, he doesn't seem to know where his is," Cocius explained.

Entius sneered, "Why don't you have your weapon trained on him."

"Well you did call me out here..."

"Don't get snide with me boy, whatever he is dangerous."

"Whatever he is? He's just an elf, sir."

"Are you forgetting that he was dead when we found him? His corpse was ice cold in Edusal, but when I retrieved this," Entius flashes an amulet of the Sixth House in front of Cocius," he sprang to life and attacked me!"

"Are you forgetting that you bludgeoned him back to near death? And then we dragged his barely alive body through the sunlight."

"And?"

"He is not a vampire sir."

"Well then what the hell is he?!"

Cocius smirked and headed back towards the door, "He is someone who has been blessed by the gods."

Entius whispered back at him, "Like you Cocius? Blessed by your gods? Grey Wind."

Cocius cletched at Entius' armor and pushed him into wall. Cocius bared his teeth and pushed words through the gaps, "You will not use that against me, not after everything I've done for you, for the empire."

"And you will continue to serve me and your emperor until your service has been fulfilled. Now go, tend to your nameless dun…"

"Balam."

Cocius backed away from Entius, and they both stared this sight. The dunmer was standing in the door way, leaning against the frame.

"Balam Atherea."


	3. Out of the Gate

Out of the Gate

The tension in the air was palpable. Balam Atherea, the once nameless dunmer sat across from Cocius and Entius; a soldier and his superior respectively. Only a few planks of wood separated them, and a candle flickered weakly. The light was dying. Cocius took a large tankard and poured in some water into a wooden cup. He gestured toward Balam.

"Here, you must be thirsty," Cocius offered the cup.

Balam took the cup, ever suspicious of the two strangers in front of him. He raised the cups to his lips and took a sip. The sip turned into a gulp, and the cup went dry.

"Where are you from Balam?" Cocius asked. He was more curious about this dunmer than interested in interrogating him.

"I lived most of my life in Ahemmusa…"

"An ashlander," scoffed Entius.

Balam continued, ignoring Entius, "but my most recent years I spent in Balmora."

"How did you end up in the Red Mountain?" Entius interjected.

"I'm afraid I know just as much as you, I only remember so much."

"Tell me what you last recall," Cocius said.

"I'm ashamed to say I was a vagrant for much of my time there, hiding out in the club with the Thieves, doing what I needed to get by."

"You mean stealing? You dunmer are so predictable," Entius spoke sharply.

"In all fairness Captain that is speculation, there are many ways to get by without stealing. Hunting, scavenging, dungeon diving," Cocius responded. Balam say that Cocius was defending him and he didn't know why. Balam did not openly disagree with Cocius, although Entius was half right.

"Maybe," Entius grunted feeling dismissed. He got up and walked towards the hearth fire and stoked the flames.

"Soon I was able to squat in a recently deserted house, I believe it was owned by a man named Caius Cosades. Rumor had he was a Blades agent and had been reassigned, but I never cared to know."

Truth rang in Entius' ears. He knew that name, he knew the man, and he the 'reassignment' meant. Cosades was gone for good.

"I had the most horrid nightmares of a thick breathable screaming darkness. The echoes of ghosts made my sleep restless, I seldom slept in that house. May I have some more water?"

Cocius filled the small cup and Balam drank it quickly. The horror made his mouth dry.

"One night, the screams were not coming from my dreams, but from the streets of Balmora. I looked out the window and I saw dunmer standing shirtless over a body," Balam's voice began to tremble. "In a moment of cowardice I locked my door and blew out my candle. I hoped this man had not seen me. I looked back outside. The now apparent darkness concealed me, but also blinded me from the danger. After a couple hours I believed that the dunmer was gone, and relit my candle."

Balam was physically shaking, nearly on the verge of weeping.

"He was in my home. The damned candle made me aware of how deadly close this Dreamer was. He made no aggressive move toward me, and I slowly stood and motioned toward the wall. I was cornered, like a rat. He then spoke two words to me, hello brother. He stretched out his hand and presented me with this amulet."

Balam reintroduced the Sixth House amulet. Entius had turned around at this point, sweating not from the fire, but from fear. Cocius was rigid in his seat.

"He moved on me then, encouraging me to take the amulet. I yelled for him to stay back, I tried to reason, I tried to threaten, but his mission was binding. Finally I gave into my resolve, and reached for the amulet. He never stopped staring into my eyes, his red fire eyes just like mine, kin. He did not see what I had done, I concealed a blade in my other hand. I reached his arm and pulled, tearing the amulet from his hand and running him through with my blade."

Entius moved quickly to the table," You murdered him!"

"He was invading my home…"

"You were squatting illegally!"

"Well sir, possession is nine-tenths of the…." Cocius interjected.

"Get out, right now," barked Entius.

Cocius should have bitten his tongue. He slowly retreated into the hallway and slid the door shut. He did not stray too far from it however, he listened closely at the door.

Entius sat down in front of Balam. He was angry, and he wanted some answers.

"So, you killed a Dreamer", Entius said.

"A what?" Balam inquired.

"A dreamer, a servant of Dagoth Ur, very commendable."

"I do not know who this Dagoth Ur is."

Entius' temper flared. 'How could this dunmer not know? Everyone knows about the Devil of Red Mountain?'

"You mean to tell me you know nothing about the Blight or the Nerevarine?"

"I cannot say.."

"Liar!" Entius slammed his fist down on the table.

Cocius heard the commotion and became concerned, he knew the captain's temper would kill Balam.

_Hunt._

Cocius' skin and eyes went pale. There was dreaded work to be done, but at least Balam would escape.

"You were found in a vampire fortress, attacked two Imperial guards, and now you confessed to murder," Entius stood and unsheathed his blade. "By my right as an Imperial officer I sentence you to death for crimes committed."

Balam awaited the blow of his challenger, the silence awaited him.

"EVERYONE GET OUT, BY THE NINE RUN!"

Blood curling screams roared in the hallway, Entius became distracted. Balam leapt from his seat and grasped at the hilt of Entius' blade. In their struggle Balam tipped the blade to the floor and drove his elbow into Entius' face, shattering his nose and knocking him to the floor. Balam held the blade to his opponent's throat.

Entius groaned, "The Empire will hunt you forever for this."

The door burst open and a young Imperial came through to cry," Captain, we must go.."

In his fright, Balam ran the young boy through, he watched as the light faded from his face and his body slumped to the floor.

"Oh ho ho," Entius chuckled, "You're in real trouble now!"

Balam bolted down the hallway, turning left and right. A fire had spread from an unknown location, and broken oil canisters fueled its fury. Everywhere, Balam saw mounds of the dead and dying, blood burnt into the walls.

'How could a fire do this,' Balam thought as he continued to run.

Entius coughed as he stood up, the smoke of the fire had finally reached him. He looked through the open doorway. A lumbering force approached.

"You!" Entius screamed. "I should have known! Do you think you can get away with this?" I alone command you! I am your master!"

_No._

Balam heard the tremble of Entius's screams as he ran through the final door. The vast expanse of ash wastes laid before him. Balam turned back once to look at his captive home, the Ghost Gate they called it. He then continued to run and did not stop.


End file.
